Most Palestinians in Israel are the descendants of those who stayed on their land after Israel’s creation in 1948. Israel was founded through a process of ethnic cleansing in which Israeli militias systematically destroyed Arab villages and forced some 850,000 Palestinians to flee.

The campaign was designed to ensure the new state of Israel had a Jewish ethnic majority.

Palestinians who remained were officially given equal rights, but face an array of racist laws and practices.

The Nation State law effectively writes this discrimination into Israel’s constitution.

Israel has reinforced its control over West Bank land by building huge settlements that act as commuter towns to Israeli cities. The occupation has also ensured that the West Bank’s economy is tied to Israel’s.